Euro IA: Everyone, Anywhere, Anytime

In her Designing for Everyone, Anywhere, at Anytime presentation at EuroIA in Prague, Anna Dahlström talked about today's diverse device landscape and the implications for information architects. Here's my notes from her talk:

Before Facebook, iPhone, Twitter, etc. came along we could assume people had a certain screen size, a basic set of devices. But today the environment is much more diverse: many different devices and many different channels.

We know very little about them and the paths they take. As a result, we need to consider how we can design for everyone and everywhere.

Lots of Web sites drop you in assuming you know what you need. But in many cases you don’t.

Everyone: knowing your target audience is more important than ever. When you decide how to target, make sure you don’t opt for easy conversion at the expense of broader reach.

Content: many people are experiencing the Web one to one. A tailored experience delivers the right information to the right person. We need to know the priority and importance of content so that it finds the right audience.

Devices: behavior isn’t determined by location. Physical context doesn’t equal task. There is an equal expectation of increased and continuous access across devices.

Wireframes allow you to identify key pages and develop a modular system that can adapt across different device experiences.

Though inclusive design can take more time up front, the longer effects of continuous redesigns can actually add up to higher costs.